THE MARIN COUNTY VOTERS' PAMPHLET just mailed to all registered voters is a treasure-trove of information. I'm referring to the campaign statements that most, but not all, candidates file.

There are two initial tasks every candidate needs to get right: their ballot designation, the two or three words that identifies their occupation and the 250-word campaign statement.

A candidate's statement of qualifications in the voter handbook is the most basic form of communication with those who'll ultimately decide the candidate's fate. For voters who instantly recycle campaign mailers and refuse to listen to annoying robocalls, it may be their only source of knowledge about candidates.

The Assembly race has four active candidates: incumbent Marc Levine of San Rafael, Mill Valley's Diana Conti, Carlstrom and Allen.

Levine and Conti have workmanlike statements. Carlstrom and Allen do not. Carlstrom apparently missed the deadline for requesting hers to be included in Marin's handbook. The result was her personal statement was published in Sonoma County, but not in Marin, the district's largest jurisdiction.

When he took a pass on paying for a handbook statement, Allen missed a golden opportunity to tout his moderate GOP credentials.

The law provides that only candidates for state Assembly or Senate who accept California's voluntary spending limits may purchase space for statements. All North Bay Assembly and Senate candidates agreed to the cap.

Publishing the statement isn't free. Marin candidates are charged $1,575 for the English-only version and $3,275 for the English-Spanish combination.

In multi-county districts the cost goes up fast.

Example one is Harry Lehman. He's a Novato "businessperson and lawyer" running as an independent for state Senate. To print his appeal in English and Spanish in all of seven counties that make up the sprawling 2nd Senate District, Lehman personally anteed up $12,000.

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, has the most professionally written ballot statement this cycle. It's easy to read, tells about his liberal stands on issues and generally informs the voter.

All that's lacking is something about Huffman's "education and qualifications." As retired Marin-Sonoma assemblyman and former University of California regent Bill Bagley says, "It tells much if we're told where candidates received their education."

Credit Marin County Superintendent of Schools Mary Jane Burke and Sheriff-Coroner Bob Doyle for supplying this essential information. Perhaps it is because of their impressive resumes. Burke and Doyle saw the handbook's importance as a communication tool with constituents even though both are unopposed.

Ballot designations are important. For those voters who pay little attention, it may be their only information about candidates.

Carlstrom may have made an inadvertent political miscalculation in her ballot designation. She's listed as "Santa Rosa Councilwoman." Given the rivalry between Marin and Sonoma, simply stating "council member" might have been better.

Certainly no one ever won a vote in Sonoma by identifying themselves as a Marinite. The inverse is equally true.

Columnist Dick Spotswood of Mill Valley now shares his views on local politics twice weekly in the IJ. His email address is spotswood@comcast.net.